Five spacetech startups at IIT Madras have joined hands to form a consortium to build homegrown technologies including rapid launch capability, satellite design and assembly, sensors, future generation communication such as 6G, security of satellites, ground stations, data processing, assimilation for communication and geospatial application sectors.

The consortium is called ‘Indian Space Technologies and Applications Design Bureau’ (I-STAC.DB) and will develop next-generation applications.

“In today’s world, collaboration is the mantra. It is not possible for any one company to do all that is required for the end customer of space applications. This consortium thus naturally gravitates all such key stakeholders,” Prof. Satya Chakravarthy, head, I-STAC.DB, and Faculty, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Madras said in a statement.

The MoU for this path-breaking initiative was signed recently. I-STAC.DB is inviting companies in space and allied domains to join this effort.

The founding members of I-STAC.DB include Dron Vayu Pvt. Ltd, Agnikul Cosmos Pvt. Ltd, GalaxEye Space Solutions Pvt Ltd, Mindgrove Technologies Pvt Ltd and Resileo Labs LLP. The consortium is powered by IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, a Section 8 company funded by the department of science and technology, under its National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems and hosted by IIT Madras.

“IIT-M Pravartak is extremely thrilled to have dynamic and young entrepreneurs to synergize their thoughts and efforts towards India based space ecosystem through this platform. It is their expression of their deep commitment and conviction that made this happen,” said Dr. M. J. Shankar Raman, chief executive officer, IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation.

The focus includes Hyperspectral vision, photogrammetry and synthetic aperture radar sensors, sensor fusion, onboarding processing based on edge computing and deep learning in space and Earth observation remote sensing, 5G/6G/7G communication, inter-satellite communication within constellations, and other satellite applications such as data storage and management, etc.

"When we at Dron Vayu approached IIT-M PTF to seek advanced technical expertise and guidance to strengthen our endeavour to deliver a complete eco-system of Space Program based in India, the seed idea of this consortium germinated. Since then we have been raring to be part of this consortium. This is perfectly in line with our deep commitment to provide “Best-in-Class Eco-System in Space” at the most affordable costs for all our clients,” Manish Kukreti, founder and managing director, Dron Vayu Pvt. Ltd said.